John Cassavetes's A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE is an emotionally devastating drama that charts the mental disintegration of a California housewife. Mabel Longhetti (Gena Rowlands) has no emotional or creative outlets. Instead, she pours all her energy into her family, spending her days waiting for her husband Nick (Cassavetes regular and COLUMBO star Peter Falk) to arrive home from work, and anxiously awaiting her children's return from school. This dependence causes Mabel to suffer a nervous breakdown, forcing her to spend time in a mental hospital. Meanwhile, Nick struggles mightily to keep his family together. When Mabel returns six months later, dazed and shaken, a 'welcome home' party threatens to trigger another collapse. As the confused, overwhelmed, and hypersensitive Mabel, Rowlands delivers one of the screen's most excruciatingly honest performances. This can directly be attributed to Rowlands's real-life husband Cassavetes, whose insistence on getting to the inner core of his characters' emotional states defined him as an artist. Falk portrays Nick with a harsh yet delicate pathos that is also honest and heartbreaking. A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE is an awe-inspiring work of art from a maverick American director.
Product Identifiers
Producer
Sam Shaw
EAN
5060034577539
eBay Product ID (ePID)
59530295
Product Key Features
Film/TV Title
A Woman under the Influence
Actor
Lady Rowlands, Katherine Cassavetes, Peter Falk, Gena Rowlands, Christina Grisanti, Fred Draper, Matthew Laborteaux, John Finnegan, Matthew Cassel, Mario Gallo
Director
John Cassavetes
Format
DVD
Language
English
Release Year
2006
Features
Scene Selection
Genre
Drama, General
Run Time
147 Mins
Additional Product Features
Certificate
15
Number of Discs
1
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States of America
Reviews
Time Out - An astonishing, compulsive film, directed with a crackling energy., Uncut - Rowlands, Oscar-nominated for her unforgettable performance...is pushed remorselessly into a full-blown breakdown